First off, hey L (angelbread22). I second your belief. I hate religion. I love God. People get on my nerves but I can't help but find myself loving them. This whole argument makes so many people angry, inflamed, bigoted, dog-gone 'grr-ness'. Ugh. And when I say 'people' I mean those who say they are Christians, atheists, agnostics, etc. I mean everyone. I mean the WORLD. Ahem. Anyways. People get so caught up with arguing- even when they say people should just love others. Netish- I love all you're saying. And I can understand you frustration. But where's the love? Atheists in General- Faith is hard but if someone who loves you says to do something, you'll typically trust them. Also, you say God is some hateful being but truthfully, y'all ain't being to nice yourselves. (Yes, I know- 'y'all' and 'ain't'. I talk how I speak and live in Tennessee. 'Nuff said.)
So, instead of being mad at everyone in here, the hypocrisy that is running rampant on all sides, the hate and bashing, I am saddened. It depresses me. It makes my heart ache. Some may ask, 'Why? Why sad over a forum, over people she doesn't even know?' It's because God has put in my heart a love and empathy for people. I'm not perfect- I can be a hateful hypocrite as can we all. And it's hard for me to show love. But when some of you talk about your painful childhoods, about things that have made you feel pain, about believing that God wasn't there for you, it hurts me. Why? Here's where it gets interesting- because it hurts the God who loves us and offers us healing and forgiveness (Offers meaning we choose whether or not to accept). He says so in His Word. Look up 'love' in a Concordance Bible- it's so cool the verses you'll find.
Also, people keep on saying how they will not believe a 2000 year old book. First off, the Bible is far older than 2000 years when you consider the Old Testament. Secondly, if you do not at least believe in some of the Bible's obvious historical facts, then you should not believe in any other aged historical document. Just because something is old does not make it untrue. My Granny died at an old age. She was the most truth-telling women I know. Her memories were as old as her but that didn't make them lies. Just some food for thought.
I had other thoughts but they kept getting whosafudged and messy. Like browny batter- annoying and messy to put in a pan but os so yummy.
Oh, yeah! A quote I love that I found on another forum-based site.
"Evil does not exist, or at least it does not exist unto itself.
Evil is simply the absence of God.
It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God.
God did not create evil.
Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart.
It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."
Well...I liked it anyways...
Love me, hate me, bash me, hug me *braces for impact*, but don't judge me- period.
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You don't say to a blind man "Hey! Look at this!" and you don't make fun of something you know nothing about. Hmph.